New York Yankees

Pineda threw five innings at the complex today, Cashman said. Fastball sat at 93. He could start rehab assignment after one more appearance. — Andy McCullough (@McCulloughSL) May 23, 2013 I’m calling it now. Just before Michael Pineda returns, he will rear-end a garbage truck and break a rib. Or, he will slip in his last rehab start and bruise his buttocks. One way or another, he’ll land back on the D.L. either before he comes back or soon after.

(Tom Szczerbowski/Getty) For the second time this year, the Yankees are at their home away from home in Tampa. They lost two of three to the Rays at Tropicana Field about a month ago, the only other time these two teams have played in 2013. Believe it or not, this is a pretty important series for both clubs. Important for late-May, anyway. What Have They Done Lately? The Rays kinda stink. They just lost two of three to the Blue Jays to drop their season record to 24-22 with a +11 run differential. Before the Toronto series, they won nine of eleven. Tampa currently sits in fourth place in the AL East, four games back of the Bombers for the top spot. Offense Believe it or not, the Rays are one the top offensive teams in baseball. They average 4.8 runs per game with a team 110 wRC+, and both rank as top-six marks in all of baseball. Tampa’s offense is healthy outside of OF Matt Joyce (130 wRC+), who is day-to-day while nursing a hamstring issue. He could return to the lineup as soon as tonight. (Ed Zurga/Getty) As always, manager Joe Maddon’s lineup is anchored by 3B Evan Longoria (171 wRC+) and 2B/OF Ben Zobrist (105 wRC+). This year they’re getting a lot of help from 2B Kelly Johnson (128 wRC+), who plays primarily against righties, and 1B James Loney (150 wRC+). Yes, Loney is really hitting .350/.405/.497. And you thought Lyle Overbay was exceeding expectations. DH Luke Scott (149 wRC+) has performed well since coming off the DL a few weeks ago. OF Desmond Jennings (92 wRC+) hasn’t been any good as the leadoff man, but UTIL Sean Rodriguez (111 wRC+) and IF Ryan Roberts (94 wRC+) have done fine in their limited platoon roles. SS Yunel Escobar (76 wRC+) and OF Sam Fuld (42 wRC+) have been terrible. Former Yankee C Jose Molina (69 wRC+) and C Jose Lobaton (88 wRC+) sharing catching duties. The Rays don’t steal as many bases as they once did (only 21 this year), but they don’t need to because the lineup is deeper and more powerful. Starting Pitching Matchups Friday: RHP David Phelps vs. RHP Roberto Hernandez The pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona has been predictably awful this year, pitching to a 5.24 ERA and 4.98 FIP in eight starts. His underlying performance has actually been outstanding — 8.46 K/9 (21.2 K%), 2.62 BB/9 (6.6 BB%), and 53.3% grounders — but he’s insanely homer prone (1.81 HR/9 and 25.0% HR/FB) and has been a few years now. The 32-year-old Hernandez lives off his trademark low-90s sinker and the Rays have him throwing his mid-80s changeup nearly 30% of the time, way more than he ever has before. A low-to-mid-80s slider rounds out the repertoire. It’s worth noting Fauxsto has a massive platoon split, holding righties to a .268 wOBA while lefties tag him for a .400 wOBA. That’s good for the Yankees, who have seen Hernandez plenty over the years. (Dustin Bradford/Getty) Saturday: LHP Vidal Nuno vs. LHP Matt Moore Moore, 23, is starting to live up to the hype as the next great Rays pitcher by going 8-0 with a 2.29 ERA in his first nine starts. Of course, his FIP sits at a much less impressive 4.20 because he walks a ton of guys (4.25 BB/9 and 11.6 BB%) and will serve up the long ball (1.15 HR/9 and 10.8% HR/FB). In fact, when you add in his strikeout (8.84 K/9 and 24.0 K%) and ground ball (36.0%) rates, basically all of his peripherals stats have taken a step back from last season. The joys of a .197 BABIP, eh? Moore is a true-three pitch pitcher who uses a low-to-mid-90s four-seamer to set up mid-80s changeups and low-80s curveballs. He will beat himself with walks if given the opportunity, but this Yankees lineup is one of the least patience in the game. They’ve seen Moore a few times since he broke in late in 2011, and they actually roughed him up good last summer. Sunday: LHP CC Sabathia vs. RHP Alex Cobb This spot was supposed to belong to rookie RHP Jake Odorizzi, but the Rays took advantage of yesterday’s off-day and flipped hi

Travis Hafner has been better than anyone could have imagined this year. Given his history of DL trips, it was unclear if Hafner would even be able to stay on the field, never mind post a gaudy 148 wRC+. The soon-to-be 36-year-old dealt with a plethora of injuries in his career, averaging just 86 games played over the last 5 years. But other than a minor shoulder issue, Hafner has managed to stay on the field in 2013. Pronk hasn't quite been an everyday player as he's been part of a strict platoon at DH. Nonetheless, he's played in 36 of the team's 46 games, putting him on pace for 127 games played—which would be his highest total since 2005. All told, he holds a robust .396 wOBA, good for best on the Yankees. While Hafner's strong performance is unexpected, it's not entirely shocking. He's posted a wRC+ of 115 or higher every year since 2009. Most of it came in fragmented seasons though, due to his numerous injuries. There's no denying that Hafner has been great, and it's a little scary to think about what the team's lineup would have looked like without him. But can we realistically expect him to continue to be a reliable offensive piece going forward? Despite his impressive contributions, there's nothing underlying his performance that screams fluke. In a small sample, the most telling signs of a hitter's talent are those associated with plate discipline. According to research done by Russell Carleton at Baseball Prospectus, strikeout and walk rates stabilize sooner than other hitter statistics. Hafner looks very good in that regard. He's walked in an exceptional 14% of plate appearances and has managed to limit his strikeout total as well. Power has always been a hallmark of Hafner's game and this year has been no different. Despite limited playing time, he's hit 8 home runs and holds a .270 ISO. Even with Yankee Stadium's short porch, Hafner's probably not going to keep hitting for power like he has. Nonetheless, I wouldn't expect his power output to regress too far downward, either. His numbers may seem a bit unsustainable, but it's worth noting that almost half of the balls he's hit have been fly balls. It's still a small sample size, but FB% stabilizes relatively quickly. With 74 balls in play this year, Hafner's basically reached the point where half of this performance can be attributed to his fly ball hitting prowess, with the other half to random chance. His 20.5% HR/FB rate is certainly not absurd compared to his 18.5% career mark. So if the fly balls continue, so should most of the homers. He also doesn't appear to have been exceptionally lucky on balls in play. His .297 BABIP is higher than what he posted last season, but falls in line with what he's done in the past. In terms of baseball skills, there's little reason to believe that Pronk will stop performing. Despite his health issues, he hasn't lost the ability to hit and has looked better than ever this season. Avoiding injury is clearly the biggest hurdle he needs to avoid. He has been uncharacteristically healthy this year, but could realistically go down at any time. As a result, the Yankees need to do everything in their power to make sure he says on the field. As painful as it is to watch Ben Francisco play, utilizing a strict platoon is probably the best option for the Yankees. This enables them to decrease the probability that Hafner gets injured while still leveraging him in situations where he's most effective. Hafner has been a savior for a Yankees' lineup that has been decimated by injuries. Hopefully he can continue to produce, but even if he were to hit the DL tomorrow, he's done a fine job of helping the team tread water with Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira on the shelf.

Nice. Your browser does not support iframes.

So, last night I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Mets Musings podcast with Gary Mack. Yes, Stacey, the lady who writes for two New York Yankee blogs was on another New York Mets podcast. I had been a guest on another pro-Met podcast a couple of months ago as well. Gary and I discussed everything from the unbelievable performance of the 2013 Yankees (I use that word to describe what they've been doing so far this year about 15 times in span of 37 seconds) to the 1980's Mets and Yankees with some 2013 All-Star game comments and stories about old Yankee Stadium and Shea thrown into the mix. We also discussed this year's upcoming, abbreviated Subway Series. You can hear what I have to say about the Yankees only having to face the Mets four times this season instead of six. I'll give you a hint, I'm very happy about that. It was a fun time and Gary is a great guy. You can listen here. I join in the fun about 23 minutes into the podcast.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blogRAB Live Chat

From Andy McCullough:Pineda, a 24-year-old righty, threw five innings in an extended-spring game at the team’s minor-league complex in Tampa, Fla. His fastball velocity sat at 93 mph, general manager Brian Cashman said. After one more game at the complex, Pineda could begin a rehabilitation assignment, a 30-day jaunt that could lead him to the majors. “I’m happy so far that he’s healthy,” Cashman said. “But he’s obviously got a ways to go. We’ll see. But so far so good.” ... The velocity on Thursday was encouraging: Pineda sat at 94.7 mph during his rookie season in 2011, according to FanGraphs. But Cashman cannot count on him just yet. “He’s pitching in chain-link baseball right now, the extended-spring program,” Cashman said. “It’s good that he’s got a healthy arm and stuff. But he hasn’t gotten into the minors leagues, and he’s hasn’t moved up the ladder yet, with the higher competition. Until he’s an active player, he’s got hurdles.”Great news. If Pineda can be the guy he was in Seattle, the Yankees will really have a starting rotation few teams can match. Add that to the great start the team has had and the injured offensive players coming back, and the Yankees may be ready to steamroll this division. Speaking of that rotation, Andy Pettitte is working his way back from the DL. He played catch for the first time and reportedly felt "really good". He will throw again today.

This is  the coolest thing, ever.

Tonight RHP David Phelps (2-2, 3.83) vs. RHP Roberto Hernandez (2-4, 5.24) 7:10 p.m., MY9 and MLB Network Saturday LHP Vidal Nuno (1-1, 1.13) vs. LHP Matt Moore (8-0, 2.29) 4:10 p.m., YES Network and MLB Network Sunday LHP CC Sabathia (4-3, 3.43) vs. RHP Alex Cobb (5-2, 2.73) 1:40 p.m., YES Network and TBS The post Pitching matchups at Tampa Bay appeared first on The LoHud Yankees Blog.